Some time to reflect

January 3, 2012 1 Comment

Derby was clearly not thrilled after suffering the indignity of a bath.

I’ve had some time to reflect lately, as Derbs came up a bit lame after I was away for a few days.  My genius vet, Dr. Nicky Wessel, of Cutting Edge Equine, is coming to see him tomorrow.  Fingers crossed for a simple problem with a quick fix!

So I’ve been spending my time watching Christy make tremendous progress with her horses, reading some de Kunffy, watching videos and doing lots of cardio and ab work, to mitigate the deleterious effects of holiday cookies (a fatal weakness) and being sidelined with a nasty cold.

2010, in retrospect, was a big year for me.  I emerged from my experience with Maddie a better and (ultimately) more confident horsewoman.  I have found a good partner in Derby – he’s a horse I can really work with.  We have tack that fits, and I feel like the pieces are starting to come together.

So what are my goals for 2012?  I have a few:

  • Continue developing my strength and fitness.  My riding has improved as my fitness has, and goodness knows I still have plenty of opportunity to improve in both areas.
  • Develop a good seat. A really good, solid, balanced, independent seat.  This means relinquishing my stirrups  – and ultimately my saddle for some schooling and lessons.  (Cringes.)
  • Improve Derby’s responsiveness.  I have to take responsibility for his training every ride.
  • Push myself.  Do more, try more, ask for more, expect more of myself.
  • Continue to have fun.

Showing is definitely on the agenda.  However, to get into the ring and be respectable, I need to nail down some of these goals first.

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Quality begets quality

December 27, 2011 2 Comments

It took some work but we got a canter with some energy. But it shouldn't take so much work.

I scampered out to the barn tonight, eager to ride.  Derbs seemed to be ready to go too, abandoning his hay and standing by his stall door as I fetched his tack and set out his boots and brushes.

We started as we always do, walking, and he came onto the bit nicely and was moving easily off my seat bones.  I moved him into a trot, and rode in two point practicing some of my new skills from last night while he cleared his pipes.  Once we were ready to go, I asked him to move out as we were tracking left, and I loved the response I got when I closed my calves on his barrel and increased the elevation of my post.  He surged forward at first asking.  After a couple laps I asked for the canter and he again responded promptly, but then dropped to a trot before I asked for the downward transition.  We reorganized and cantered again.  This time I paid attention to my postion, keeping my hips open and swinging.   This time Derby held the canter until I asked for the downward transition.

I switched direction, starting again with trot work, and paying attention to bend, as we were now going right, and I’m continuing to have some issues this direction.  To try to get through this rough patch, I’m really trying to be as deliberate – and correct – as possible going right.   We did some big trot/ little trot, and then I asked Derbs to move out, and got another nice response.  However, when I moved into doing some serpentines, my energy started to peter out.

At that point I noticed that Christy was wrapping up her lesson, and her next one was running a bit late.  I asked her if she could give me a few minutes coaching, and she said sure, since my lesson last night had been been a bit short.

We started on a 20 meter circle, and Christy started to fix our trot, insisting first on better quality.  At this point, we were really lacking energy, and I’ve been struggling with maintaining forward gears when we’re doing something other than blasting down the long side.

She reminded me to hold my outside rein, get busy with my inside leg, and soften the inside rein to encourage bend, while also insisting on more, more, more forward.  She had us spiral in and leg yield out.  We finally put it together, and then I heard “Sit sit ask.”  I did as she she commanded, and while the transition was ugly, at least I got the right lead, and we found some solid energy.    We transitioned down, and did it all again.

I was pretty happy with the canter quality – with Christy’s coaching, I was able to really engage Derby’s inside hind.

It was a great ride and the fifteen minutes of torture coaching was invaluable.

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Gravity lessons.

December 14, 2011 10 Comments

Gravity lessons, a la Wile E.

Tonight the indoor was pretty busy – we were sharing it with three other riders, none of whom were inclined to shuffle along, holding the rail.   While most people keep “left to left” somewhat in mind, on nights like these, everyone needs to ride with their heads up, calling their quarterline or circle or inside or rail if there’s any shadow of a doubt.  I don’t mind these kinds of rides – they challenge me in different ways, and I’m getting better at owning my ride, and getting the work done that I want to get done, even when conditions are crowded.

And tonight’s ride was pretty good.  I was trying a new bit – an eggbutt snaffle of Christy’s – and was really liking it.  We got some nice canter work both ways, some very good trot work (including some leg yield and shoulder in – we were feeling it) and I spent some time in two point, torturing my inner thigh muscles.  Everything was going well …. until it wasn’t!

I was bringing Derbs down the quarterline, behind Christy, who was on the rail with Remy, working S/I, S/O, H/I, H/O.  I was asking Derbs for a big trot, and called the quarterline, so Christy would know we were coming.   As we neared -and mind you, there was plenty of room between the horses, Christy asked Remy for a haunches-in … at which point Derby became extremely concerned about preserving the integrity of his teeth.

You see, Derby and Remy are turnout buddies, and Derby – who was a stallion most of his life and is still learning the rules of herd dynamics, because he wasn’t turned out with other horses – is the low man on the totem pole. He’s an equine punching bag.   His first couple months, he suffered all sorts of kicks and dings, because he simply didn’t know that when another horse turns tail, he better get out of the way.

I guess the fact that he has now internalized this golden rule of herd survival is a good thing.  However, I wasn’t prepared – at all, whatsoever – for him to abruptly exit stage left upon seeing Remy’s bum pointed in his general direction.

I’m always amazed at how quickly it can happen.  The speed with which these big, powerful animals can move is still beyond my comprehension.  All I know is that one minute, I’m on a horse.  And then the next, I’m floating, mid-air.  There is no longer a horse under me.  And then I hit the ground.

Tonight I landed squarely on my butt and got the wind knocked out of me.  I spent a minute on my hands and knees, panting for air, and then started to assess the damage.  Toes and fingers, check.  Feeling in extremities, check.  Vision OK, check.  I know my name, check.  I arched my back like a cat, and while things were sore, everything that should move did, and what shouldn’t didn’t.  Check!

I dusted myself off and staggered over to Kristine, who had apprehended Derby. I marched over to the mounting block and got back on to recommence the ride.  Trotted both ways, got him over his back, did some serpentines.

And here’s the best part.  I felt great.  At no point – and I mean NEVER – did fear and trepidation creep in.  I just got back on my horse, and rode.  In a strange way, this little spill is cause for celebration.

And ice packs, and Advil.

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Creating the space for the movement you want

December 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Hey now. (He's a sensitive guy.)

I’m so tired.  Exhausted, to-the-quick tired.  I worked on a lot of things during today’s ride – but most of all, I worked. Well, I wasn’t alone.  Derbs worked up a sweat too.  The horses have been in for the last two days, so I wanted to give Derbs a long ride to get his blood pumping and alleviate the crushing boredom of being stuck inside.  I’ve also been musing on a conversation Christy and I had on Friday, and was freshly motivated to get back to work.

I took the afternoon off on Friday, and scampered out to the barn to watch Christy ride and sneak in an extracurricular lesson.   I got to watch her on Remy, and during her ride, she asked him some questions she’s not posed to him previously, and he answered with aplomb, elevating his carriage and gaits well beyond Training – or First, for that matter.

After her ride, Christy and I talked about how she produced this dramatic new way of going.  The first thing she said was, “I was working really hard.” And I could see that as she rode – her posture and shorter reins were creating a different framework for Remy, and she had to hold it together –  and keep him through –  while he figured out how to configure himself to fit. “You were creating a new space for the horse,” I concluded.

“That’s a really good way to think about it,” she said, “And you should keep that in mind for Derby, too.”

So I went away thinking about how the rider’s position dictates the horse’s way of going.

I know that Derby is very sensitive to how his rider – whether it’s me, Liz or Christy – is sitting and how they’re balanced. Changes that you could consider fairly slight to the rider’s seat produce dramatic changes in his gaits.   So now I’m thinking a little differently about creating desirable gaits.  It’s less about doing things to the horse.  It’s more about creating the space with my seat that encourages the horse’s back to come up and his shoulders to move,  and framing that space with my legs and hands to further define the movement more exactly.

So after giving the horse yesterday off, today I was ready to ride.  And “creating the space for the movement I want” was top of mind. I was also thinking about something else Christy and I had discussed on Friday, which was the ongoing management from the saddle, conscious or not, that dressage requires.  I still remember the day I realized (as silly as this sounds now) that the horse is never going to magically put himself on the bit and round his back – whether or not that happens, and the degree to which is maintained, is up to the rider. You have to ride almost every stride.  Literally.

So those still reading this post who’ve also made it through my other recent ramblings know that “multitasking” as I call it is still a challenge.  Creating forward gaits, maintaining bend, softening this, half-halting, applying leg, and constantly, constantly checking (and correcting) my position makes for a grueling and intense ride – like today’s.   We had some really nice moments, but they weren’t luck.  I was working hard – to still my lower leg, keep my hips open, feel my seatbones and my balance and adjust accordingly, hold my core and hold the reins, and make all the myriad adjustments along the way.   When I got it right, Derby stepped right up to the plate.  I could feel his back coming up, his back legs pushing, and that magical connectedness when you actually can feel the inside hind and the power that it drives held in the reins.

Afterward, I was surprised at how wiped out I was.  My hair was soaking under my helmet, and my t-shirt was wet – despite the fact that it was in the 30’s this afternoon.  My legs were shot and when I finally got into my car, fired up the seat warmer and started to drive away, I felt like pulling over for a nap before continuing my 25 minute ride home.

It’s just after 6 pm as I’m tapping out this post, and I’m determined that I will NOT crawl into bed before 9 pm.  I’m *still* whipped from today’s ride.   No complaints, though!

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Putting a few pieces together

December 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Derby looks smashing in bright red, but I think we may be over-doing it a bit with this ensemble.

Riding bits and pieces of tests – a little stretchy trot here,  free walk there, etc. – is far different that putting a whole test together.I’m just barely starting to string together movements with deliberation.  Tonight we had a couple important firsts.

The big news was that I actually rode a canter transition.   I had Derby in a really nicely balanced canter – he was on the bit and it felt great.  As we rounded one end of the arena, I closed my fingers, half halted, engaged my core and kept it together as Derby transitioned to a trot.  I kept the trot going, and it wasn’t a bad trot – he was still on the bit, in fact, the contact was really good.  Still trotting, I decided to test my contact.  I fed him a little rein, and a little more, and still more.  Stretchy trot! Legit stretchy trot with contact! I rode half a lap like that, then picked him back up, and then invited him to stretch again.  Wow.  That was a great moment!

I also watched some video Liz shot a couple days ago.  She quietly got about three minutes of trot work that I didn’t know she was shooting.  We had a few nice moments but watching that video, I can clearly see that I”m still closing my hip angle.  I have to sit up and engage my core if I want that horse to move!

So, a nice win tonight, but much remains to do.

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Incremental improvements

November 27, 2011 Leave a comment

New red duds for December.

I’ve been working hard since my last lesson, in which Derby was dull and the ride was generally uninspired.   Developing Derby’s forward gears and maintaining engagement and roundness in the transitions have been my primary foci.  However, as part of the working on forward equation, we’ve been doing more work at the canter.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the quality of my homework and am looking forward to my lesson tomorrow.  Derby was good yesterday and really good today – we had some very nice trot work including some bending serpentines in which we maintained impulsion and had good bend.

In the back of my mind today was also the imperative to start working in more correct bend.  When I remembered, I rode bend going into corners, and given the traffic in the arena today, I also had to do changes in direction and line.  We did lots of circles and the quality of that work was some of our best.

Early in the ride, I put Derby into a canter, keeping transition quality in mind.  I also wanted to start doing a better job of riding the canter – holding the contact, pushing the horse into it. and also engaging his hind legs.  Today was – I think – our best canter ever.  Derbs was enthusiastic – he didn’t peter out but instead held the tempo – and I was able to sit up and ride circle that felt balanced.  I also got the horse to move out from that circle – I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call it a leg yield , but it was in that vein.

We’ve also schooled transitions ( trot / walk / trot) over the last few rides.   First I had to develop more responsiveness from Derbs – you need energy to maintain engagement.  The transitions have improved incrementally from ride to ride, as I do a better job of riding them – using my half halt and getting the horse to soften while staying in the bridle by holding the reins, engaging my core and closing my legs going into the transition.  You have to ride downward transitions forward – which is really counterintuitive for me and something I struggle with. It’s not great yet but we’re doing better, which is enough for me!

 

 

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Two steps backward, one step forward

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

I’ve had some interesting rides recently – not great, but interesting and productive.  The good news is that while our canter work lacks grace, I’m growing more and more proficient in that gait. It’s comfortable, I no longer need to work myself into cantering, and I’m starting to actively manage the gait, asking for more a more forward canter, and correcting Derbs when he breaks to a trot before I ask for the downward transition.

Getting the horse forward and into the bridle is still a work in progress.  The key here is getting Derby in front of my leg.  I know that I need to stay on this and not accept a sluggish response.   Today I felt the canter petering out, and reached back and gave him a crack with the whip.  He surged forward, I said “Good boy!” and stayed out of his mouth, letting him go on.

We had kind of a crappy ride in my lesson yesterday – Derby was dull and almost rank – he felt very resistant and we had numerous discussions – about walking, about halting, about transitions.  We abandoned work on transitions in favor of working on getting the horse forward. Christy had me reinforce my aids with whip and spurs and pretty soon, I had some good responsiveness.   But, across the board, the ride wasn’t great.

Today was much better.  Whatever was stuck in Derby’s craw yesterday was absent today.  We had a nice ride, he was nicely in the bridle, and we drilled trot-walk-trot transitions with good results – the horse stayed round and connected.  We also had  nice canter work both ways, and high-stepped over poles, staying round and without ever trying to add a stride (seriously) between poles (a symptom of his being behind my leg, I was told.)

Derbs earned himself a couple days off.  We have family coming over tomorrow and Friday.  It’s going to be warm and sunny, and the paddocks are full of lovely squishy mud that I”m sure I’ll have to chisel off on Saturday.  He’s earned it however.  Good boy!

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When I’m there, he’s there

November 21, 2011 6 Comments

Within the last month or so, I feel like I’ve finally started to really, truly, legitimately have moments in which I’m riding a connected horse, back to front, in good balance – for the first time, ever. While still fleeting, I can recreate these moments fairly consistently on my own, without Christy micromanaging my every move which is what it took to get me to this point.

Well, that and a lot of riding – five to six days a week, for four years.  Along the way, I also read a variety of books, educated myself going to clinics and shows, and (most importantly) am getting myself into better, stronger physical shape.   Despite these efforts, I am still schooling training level, meaning that I’m probably lacking in the natural talent department (though Christy does note that I’ve started over three times, twice with horses that were very green to dressage, so I guess I feel marginally better.)

That said, I have progressed from simply godawful (no steering, no seat and no clue) to being able to put together a correct Intro level test, and over the last year (with Maddie) starting to delve into some more interesting things, like trot lengthenings and leg yields. I’ve also developed better feel, timing and a certain degree of instinctive responsiveness.

However, that work on Maddie – despite the fact it represents what was technically my most “advanced” work – pales in comparison to the awakening I’ve had over the last month.  And after attending the Dressage Through the Levels symposium with Steffen Peters and Janet Foy this weekend, I think I can finally elucidate what I’ve experienced.

Simply put, generating correct gaits and (at my level at least) movements is easy – dead easy – when the rider is the correct, balanced position, and the horse is connected.

Mind you, getting to that point of correct balance is a bitch, at least for me.  But during those fleeting moments when I’ve been properly aligned, I’ve felt some amazing things.  I’ve felt Derby’s walk transform from a pokey shuffle into a fluid, rolling, swingy walk with overstep.  It feels unlike any walk I experienced on Jag or Mads, and Maddie was a much fancier horse.  I’ve felt him pushing from his hind, over his back, and into my hands at the trot, and I’ve felt that trot come uphill.  I’ve had the odd lovely, quiet, prompt, balanced canter depart, and a couple days ago I felt his back come up when we were cantering, and almost fell off from surprise.  I’ve done a leg yield that felt like floating, with the horse moving away from a quiet aid.

When I’m in that sweet spot, I don’t have to even think about muscling the horse into a movement.  I don’t need to kick kick kick to get the work done – I can whisper, and he hears me. When I’m there, he’s there.   Once I’m there, it’s easy.

When I’m not there, it’s hard.  I struggle to keep the horse going and bending, and invariably, as I’m trying to muscle him into one thing, something else goes wrong – a haunch drifts in, a shoulder pops out.  I’m getting better at recognizing those moments and responding correctly by fixing what’s wrong with me, rather than trying to correct the horse.  Because when I’m out of whack, I can’t blame the horse when impulsion slows or a haunch drifts.  What he does is in response to the ride I’m giving him at the moment.

At the Foy/Peters symposium, the second day started with a session on rider biomechanics. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but was marvelously illustrative nonetheless.  Two lovely riders on lovely, well trained horses were the “victims” for this session.  I say ‘victims’ because Janet Foy instructed the riders to adopt a variety of poor postures, enabling us to see the effect unsteady hands or uneven weights in the stirrups or posting with all your weight on your toes had on their horses.   She emphasized the point that in most cases, the problem with the movement in the test was the direct result of a rider inadequacy – not the willful behavior of the horse.

So now I’m doubly aware of those easy moments that signal I’ve found the sweet spot. Challenge is to figure out how to live there, not visit infrequently.

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Contact isn’t a game, and it isn’t magickal.

November 9, 2011 2 Comments

Well, the crappy weather is upon us, and I donned my favorite cold weather britches tonight (Irideon Wind Pros), wool socks, turtleneck, fleece, jacket and stocking cap and headed out.  The horses were stuck inside for a second day, due to the heavy rains that have turned their paddocks into seas of mud.  Derby was really happy to get out of his stall, to say the least, and the rides we’ve been having lately are great motivation, even on awful nights such as this one.

The walk quality for the last couple days has been really good from the get-go – really powerful and swinging – which I attribute less to my riding and more to the fact that Derbs has been cooped up and has a lot of energy. I’m taking advantage of it, though, and am using the walk as a foundation for getting him really through and into the bridle.   The contact I’m getting is so strong, and even – he’s really pulling into the bit, and I’m feeling his back under me consistently.  Really consistently.  I’m even starting to play with lateral work at the trot – shoulder-in and leg-yield – movements that are way head of the game for us, but helpful in engaging (and strengthening) his hind end.

I attribute our ability to generate shoulders-in and leg-yields directly to the this new-found solid contact.  *This* is what a connected horse feels like! I had a few glimmers of this with Maddie, but wasn’t able to hold the feeling.  Derby and I, on the other hand, have been able to hold it together pretty well lately.

We also have a fantastic free walk – Derbs will follow the reins down to the end of the buckle, and he’ll stay there.  We’ve also experimented with stretchy trot, which is also growning pretty reliable.  I can pick him up, stretch him down, rinse and repeat to my heart’s content.

It’s such an elementary thing but I know – from my own experience and from watching the Dover clinic – that contact is fundamental.  It’s not a game, as some would have you believe, and it’s not an ephemeral state.  It’s physical, it’s feedback, and it’s truly something the rider doesn’t take.  The horse has to give you contact, and the rider has to create the environment that encourages and rewards the horse for doing so.

 

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Tearing myself away ….

November 6, 2011 1 Comment

Just when things were getting really good, I have to take a (very) short break from riding.  Short, as in two days.  And really, I’m only “losing” one day, since Derbs gets his fall shots and dentistry on Monday, and would have the day off due to the vet work, whether or not I was in town.   That said, the day is dawning sunny, and promises to be warm (for November.) It would be an awesome day to ride, but I’m on the way to the airport this morning.

While I don’t want to give the impression that all of my problems are solved – far far from it! – it has been a gratifying week.   The work we did in my lesson (see “Tightening the Screws“) awakened me to the fact that I have been letting Derby steal rein – when I’m not just flat out throwing the reins at him – and I was putting him on his forehand.  Since that lesson, I can feel when this is happening, and while I still need a few strides to organize, think, take hold, half halt and close legs and engage core and hold contact and go now, horse! go! …. the good news is that I can get remedy the situation.

Our last couple rides have been really nice.  On Friday, the highlight was a nice, relaxed, rolling canter that felt balanced, and that I was able to influence.  Yesterday, the highlight was more canter work – transitions on a 20m c ircle.  We had a couple crap transitions that I knew were my fault, not Derby’s.  So I put him on a circle, got a nice, balanced trot going, and then rode some transitions.  As long as we stayed organized, they felt effortless.   Clearly, I need to work on managing and maintaining quality and balance through and between gaits – obviously, since this is really kind of a key component to a successful test.  I’m really happy with the quality of the gaits recently.   My rides this week have been really fun – it’s tough to get on a plane to leave, even if it is just a short trip.

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